A way out on HB2?

Now it’s official. The state of North Carolina and its governor are breaking the law.

The U.S. Justice Department delivered that verdict Wednesday in a letter to Gov Pat McCrory regarding the legality of House Bill 2, the anti-LGBT law that includes a measure preventing transgender people from using public facilities that align with their gender identity.

In the letter, Valita Gupta, principal deputy assistant attorney general, told the governor, “The Department of Justice has determined that, as a result of compliance with and implementation of NC House Bill2, both you and the state of NC are in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.”

That determination means millions of dollars, perhaps billions of dollars, in federal funding to North Carolina may be suspended unless the state repeals or significantly amends HB2. McCrory has until Monday to say whether the state will comply or defy…

McCrory, who is up for re-election and sinking in the polls because of the damage from HB2, should be and likely is alarmed by the federal demand. He thought HB2 would stir his Republican base and put his Democratic opponent, Attorney General Roy Cooper, in the uncomfortable position of defending “men in women’s rooms.” But the ploy backfired, and he’s now desperate for a way out of it.

The U.S. Justice Department offers McCrory an exit. He should take it. He should say that the law is not worth the damage it has done to North Carolina’s reputation and economy and that it’s certainly not worth losing what some estimate could be $4.5 billion in federal funding.

Alas, McCrory is not driving the NC Republican bus on this or anything else:

ut North Carolina’s response ultimately will not be up to the governor. Berger is the adamant force behind this law. He has no concerns about being re-elected. And he politically seceded from the U.S. government once Barack Obama became the head of it. Berger apparently welcomes a battle over states rights and discrimination. He said in a statement, “This is a gross overreach by the Obama Justice Department that deserves to be struck down in federal court.”

My wife asked me yesterday what happened in Indiana and other states when similar laws were passed. I got to inform her that our Republicans are uniquely intransigent as those states’ Republicans backed down once they saw the real costs in lost business, etc. Yay, NC.

2 Responses to A way out on HB2?

I was just talking to my dad about this. He pointed out that when too much power is in the hands of one party they will inevitably overreach and the voters will respond with a correction.

I think that the governor is toast over this. He probably hates the job anyway. The legislature has made it clear that they don’t care what he thinks and will just override him if he tries to oppose them. They are drunk on their own power in the legislature and think that they can do whatever they want. It will take voters to get sick of it and tell them otherwise.

Between the legislature’s efforts at voter suppression and its success in gerrymandering, it will be hard to get enough voters to defeat them.
Getting rid of the governor is the easier part of the job.